A Life

Age of the Seer by Michael Joseph Murano
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Title: Age of the Seer (Epic of Ahiram, #1)
Author: Michael Joseph Murano
Pubisher: CandleBright Books
Num. of Pages: 474 pages
Published Date: September 2014

Suddenly torn from his family, twelve-year-old Ahiram is sold as a slave in the Kingdom of Tanniin. Six years later, in order to win his freedom and return home, Ahiram enters the elite Games of the Mines. Pursued relentlessly by his enemies and driven to the limit of his endurance, Ahiram unwittingly awakens a dormant fury within him, and its resonance is caught by a hidden malice that turns the Games into a living nightmare. Refusing to submit to a cruel tyranny, Ahiram must face a harrowing death in the bowels of the earth. Still, a glimmer of hope remains. For deep within the mines, between stone and gold, a power–unlike anything the world has seen–quietly calls his name.

Review

I won the book from Goodreads' giveaway. The author sent me an autographed copy of this book. Thank you very much :).

Reading the blurb, I was prepared for a The Hunger Game look-alike, but I was wrong. It turned out that Games of the Mines were more similar to the Triwizard Tournament in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, except for the fact that more people died at the Games of the Mines.

The Games of the Mines were a great invention of the Kingdom of Taniin, preserving their national pride and idntity. Year after year, the games reenacted El-Windiir's victory, and year after year, the team from Baal won, reminding the Taniinites that Baal was their master and they, his servants. To this end, Baal sent the finest juniors of the High Riders to win the Games. (page 91)

I quite like the story. I like the Babylonian theme that the book used. It was a breath of fresh air for me. I also like the many layers of the story. It seemed that many people had different personal interests that created the events in the book.

However, I lost at the sea of names. There were so many characters in the book and I couldn't remember who is who or what he/she did. Thank goodness that the book included a glossary. It was quite helpful for me.

In term of characteristic, I have to say that all the fun in the book happened outside of Ahiram's circle. Yes, he was supposed to be the main character, but he received so little spotlight. Most of the time was spent with the upper level: the royals, the general, the high priestess, or the judges of the games. Ahiram was kinda bland for me and didn't leave much impression.

The games itself wasn't the focus of the book. Worse was: it wasn't very interesting. Forget about THG level of intensity. The games' plot didn't measure up to the other plots.

The ending left many unanswered quetions. Will we find the answers at the upcoming book?

Overall, Age of the Seer was a good book. I like the many levels of the story and the Babylon inspired world. However, Ahiram, as the main character, didn't enchant me and the Games of the Mines wasn't the next interesting bloodbath game I was looking for.

You can read the sample pages of this book here.

This book is for the following reading challenges:
- 2015 Young Adult Reading Challenge
- 2015 New Authors Reading Challenge
- 2015 Lucky No. 15 Reading Challenge


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